Samsung forms cross-licensing deal with Kodak

Eastman Kodak Co. said Monday it will draw royalties from South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. under a licensing pact that gives the companies access to each other's digital-imaging patents.

The agreement, under which Kodak is paid royalties, ends an ongoing disagreement and terminates a patent-infringement lawsuit between the companies.
Kodak initially complained to the commission in November 2008, saying the digital cameras in mobile phones made by Samsung and LG Electronics Inc infringed on technology it had patented. Samsung had agreed in December to pay the photography products maker an unspecified amount.

Kodak has amassed more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents, and almost all of today's digital cameras rely on that technology.

"We are pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial arrangement that advances the interests of Kodak and Samsung and which validates the strength of Kodak's intellectual-property portfolio," said Kodak's chief intellectual-property officer, Laura G. Quatela.